Chemical sensors can be fabricated using semiconductor technology. The use of semiconductor manufacturing can result in a reduction of size of the chemical sensor as well as mass fabrication of chemical sensors, thereby reducing per unit cost of each sensor. More generally, the use of semiconductor manufacturing to manufacture sensors produces the same or similar benefits as it does for electrical circuits: low cost per sensor, small size, and highly reproducible behavior.
Semiconductor manufacturing technology provides precise control of layer thickness and lateral dimensions, so that the sensors can be miniaturized, and so that they will have well-controlled characteristics. By making the sensors small, sample volumes can be small (which may not be important in testing water, but may be important in testing other solutions, such as blood samples from newborns). But operation of the sensors also requires rinsing between samples, storage in a controlled solution, and calibration with reference solutions. Volumes of all of these solutions can be smaller if the sensors are miniaturized, as they are on the silicon substrates.